Title: Fear vs. Faith – 10
“The Spirit of Fear”
Text: II Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”
I know that I have spoken on the subject of fear a decent amount, but I felt compelled to share this message. We have so many new people within our congregation that needs to hear this message and we have a lot of old people in our congregation that needs to hear this subject often. This subject of fear has become a theme of our ministry here at Calvary. I have received such a revelation on the Spirit of Fear, that I KNOW without a doubt if you can grasp this truth in your spirit, it can change your life and the life of your family!
There are more than 100 different kinds of fear. These fears can be irrational, but since fear is of the devil, it does not have to be rational. I saw a list of phobias that some people have that I want to share with you, I don’t think I can pronounce them all, so I have put them on the overhead so you can see them for yourself. Here are just a few of them:
➢ Acrophobia – fear of heights
➢ Claustrophobia – fear of enclosed places
➢ Agoraphobia – fear of outdoors and open spaces (affects 2 million Americans)
➢ Anthropophobia – fear of people
➢ Cynophobia – fear of dogs
➢ Kleptophobia – fear of thieves
➢ Aquaphobia – fear of water
➢ Brontophobia – fear of thunderstorms
➢ Dentophobia – fear of dentists
➢ Skiaphobia – fear of shadows
➢ Cardiophobia – fear of heart disease
➢ Triskaidekaphobia – fear of the number 13
➢ Arachibutyrophobia – fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of the mouth
➢ Amaxophobia – fear of riding in vehicles
➢ Anuptaphobia – fear of staying single
➢ Hematophobia – fear of the sight of blood
➢ Peniaphobia – fear of poverty
➢ Tropophobia – fear of changes
➢ Gephyrophobia – fear of crossing bridges
➢ Ablutophobia – fear of washing or bathing
➢ Agliophobia – fear of pain
➢ Ambulophobia – fear of walking
➢ Anablephobia – fear of looking up
➢ Barophobia – fear of gravity
➢ Pantaphobia – the morbid dread of everything
This is just a few of the fears that there are on earth today. Some of these phobias seem ridiculous, while others are very real. However, if you are suffering from one of these fears we know that they did not come from God. Our text makes it very clear that God did not give us a Spirit of Fear.
Psychologists tell us that Thanatophobia, the fear of death, is the root of all the other fears. If you have a spirit of fear, you did not get it from God. It is very important to know that this morning.
Fear opens the door to the devil and fear is connected to the lack of power, lack of love, and mental problems. The spirit of fear cannot be dealt with on a physical or natural level, it must be dealt with supernaturally. The devil would like to trick us into thinking that fear is nothing more then an emotion. The emotion of fear is just a manifestation of the spirit of fear.
The Word of God breaks the spirit of fear. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. When faith comes, fear goes. There is faith, power, love and mental soundness found in the Word of God.
Hebrews 2:14-15; ¶ “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Jesus has delivered us from the power and the control of the devil, which includes all fear. Remember Psychologists even tell us that the root to all fear is the fear of death and Jesus tells us in His Word that we are delivered from the fear of death, which really means all fear known to mankind. We have been delivered from fear, so when fear comes to try to sink its teeth in you, you need to stop putting up with it and rebuke it in the Name of Jesus. How do I get rid of fear in my life?
I. WHEN FAITH COMES, FEAR GOES
I wish every question were that easy to answer. It is very simple. You get rid of fear in your life by replacing it with faith. When faith comes, fear goes! Fear leaves when faith comes!
God is a faith God. Paul tells us in Hebrews that it is actually impossible to please Him without faith and the reason it is impossible to please Him is because He is a faith God. Everything He does depends on your faith. God works by faith. Just as God works by faith, the devil works by fear. There are 365 times in the Bible where we are told “fear not.” Jesus said over and over again, “fear not, only believe.” How do we get overtaken by faith instead of fear?
II Corinthians 4:13; “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;”
If we truly believe, then our speaking has to line up with our believing. The Apostle Paul is quoting David in Psalm 116:10; “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” There can be no doubt that David had a spirit of faith. The man killed a giant with a slingshot and one stone. He killed a lion, a bear and more then 10,000 Philistines. Case closed! The man had faith. However, we see that even David had to overcome the spirit of fear in his life. A man of such faith even had to overcome fear. No one is exempt from this awful, foul spirit of fear that robs us of every bit of faith that we have.
David wrote in Psalm 34:4; “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
David had a spirit of faith, but he still had to overcome the enemy of fear. He refused to allow fear to become a part of his life. He realized that fear not only opens the door to the devil, it will also paralyse you from moving with God’s plan for your life. David’s speaking lined up with his believing. He was confident in the Lord’s ability to see him through and closed the door to fear.
In order to get rid of fear we must replace the fear with faith, we must also:
II. FEAR NOT, ONLY BELIEVE
It is IMPOSSIBLE to have faith and fear at the same time! You know that!
In Mark 5, when the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus, she got healed. Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole.” If her faith made her whole, why do you think it is any different today? Your faith will make you whole.
At the time the woman was healed, Jesus was on the way to the house of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, to pray for his daughter, who was dying. When Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has made you whole,” Jairus’ servants came from his house saying, “Don’t trouble Jesus any longer. Your daughter is already dead.” When Jesus heard them say this to Jairus, He gave him some vital information. He says, “Fear not, only believe!” No other information to go on, just don’t fear.
There is a fight to faith. At that moment, Jairus could have believed the bad report, got in fear, and gave up on his miracle. But Jesus said, “Let me tell you what to do in this situation, fear not, only believe.” This is absolutely amazing. Jairus chose to believe the Lord’s report and not man’s. The daughter being dead was real and it was an accurate report, but he would not believe it because the word of Jesus said something different.
Some of you have received a bad report. You now have to choose what report you are going to believe. Well, it is not that easy Pastor. You really don’t understand. Oh, I fully understand. You are letting the spirit of fear control you because you are worrying about the outcome. If Jesus says something in His Word, it should be as good as gold. I choose to believe His reports, not mans. Fear not, only believe. Only one option no matter what the circumstances and that option is believing in what Jesus says.
➢ Fear has several companions and relatives: doubt, anxiety, stress, and worry. All these emotions stem from the root of fear.
It is impossible to have the spirit of faith and spirit of fear at the same time. When you have a spirit of faith, you don’t have a spirit of fear. When you are in faith, there is no room for fear. That means there is no room for doubt, there is no room for anxiety, there is no room for stress, there is no room for worry. If you want to be rid of the stress and worry in your life, then you have to rebuke the spirit of fear. Because fear is at the root of every bit of it. Fear comes from the devil, not from God. Fear never comes from God. The devil is a fear devil.
There will be a fight in the worst of your circumstances. I am not saying that this easy, it is a fight, but you must make up your mind that you will win because your trust is in Him, not you. There comes a moment in every person’s life where they must choose if they are going to be full of fear or believe God.
Jesus grabbed Jairus right in the middle of his choice and gave him a word. Jesus will give you a word right in the middle of your crisis too. He knows what others are telling you; He knows the doubts that are flooding your mind and the way the devil is attacking you. Jesus hears and sees what is going on in your life right now and this morning, He is interrupting you and is saying; “I’d like to interrupt the fear and doubt and give you a word from heaven. Fear not, only believe.” That is the word that He has for you today. Fear not, only believe. Don’t let fear rule your life any longer. Make a choice to believe.
Jairus’ relatives and friends were already planning his daughter’s funeral when Jesus told them, “Get out! It’s not over. She’s not dead; she’s just sleeping.” The devil is telling some of you this morning that it’s over, but Jesus is saying it is not all over, it has just been delayed for a little while. Jesus is on the inside of you and we need to take the authority that He has given us and begin to rebuke the spirit of fear off our lives. Jesus is getting ready to breathe new life into some dead things. Jesus said to fear not to Jairus and He is telling you the same thing today. Stop fearing! Stop worrying! Stop stressing! Stop doubting! Stop the anxiety! Put your trust in Jesus, He will see you through!
